


On His Honor

by Lumelle



Series: No Queen of Tennis [2]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, FtM Atobe Keigo, M/M, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 10:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13233867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: Atobe has something he apparently needs to tell Sanada, no matter how late it is. Sanada isn't the best at emotional support, but he can at least try.





	On His Honor

**Author's Note:**

> After writing the first fic, I couldn't stop thinking about it until I'd written out the actual coming out scene. >.>

Sanada didn’t even bother to check the screen of his phone before answering. He could imagine only one person who would be brave enough to call him in the middle of the night. Well, Renji and Seiichi wouldn’t have been afraid to call, but they both had better manners than this.

“Atobe.” His answer might have been mostly a grunt, but that was what Atobe got for calling him past midnight. “What is it?”

“I need to talk to you.” Atobe’s voice sounded strange somehow, though Sanada couldn’t quite put a finger on how so.

“Right.” Sanada sighed, rolling over to his side. “And I suppose it can’t wait until morning?” So help him, someone had better be on fire… Though if that were the case, he rather hoped Atobe would call emergency services rather than expecting him to be able to help remotely.

“No. I… I can’t sleep until I tell you this.” Atobe murmured something else, too low for Sanada to catch it.

“What was that?” Sanada grunted. Clearly he wasn’t getting back to sleep just yet. Atobe was far too stubborn to allow that, not when he got something in his head. “If you’re going to keep me awake, at least speak up.”

“You’re going to hate me.” Atobe’s voice hitched in an odd way, and — was that a sob? It couldn’t be, Atobe never cried, and yet… “Maybe… if I tell you now… we can both just pretend you were dreaming.”

“Atobe.” Sanada frowned, sitting up in bed. He really didn’t like where this was going. “Atobe, what is going on?”

“It’s…” Atobe paused, and Sanada was convinced he heard a shuddering breath from the other end. “Swear you won’t tell anyone.”

“On my honor.” Which he rather hoped was enough for Atobe. “Just tell me whatever it is.” What could make Atobe think Sanada would hate him? Goodness knew if he was going to hate Atobe, he would have had plenty of reason to do so already.

“Do you think I’m a man?”

“What?” That was… not what he had expected. Maybe he really was dreaming. “Look, if this is about your taste in clothes or something, I’m just going to bow out of the conversation. I don’t care about your frills one way or another.” Never mind that there was absolutely no way for him to come across well on that particular topic. Sure, Atobe made just about anything look good on him, but that didn’t mean some of his clothes weren’t just plain ridiculous.

“What are you talking about?” Well. Incredulous Atobe was much better than crying Atobe, not that Sanada still was entirely convinced that was what had been going on earlier.

“Well, if there’s any other reason to doubt your masculinity, I am not aware of it.”

Atobe made a sound that could have been a chuckle or a sob, Sanada wasn’t entirely sure. “There are people who would disagree with you.”

“Just get to the point.” Sanada dropped back down, staring up at the ceiling. “Why do you ask?”

“When I was born, my parents named me Keiko.” Well. Sanada certainly had nothing to say to that. “You see, they were rather convinced they had a daughter.”

Sanada was quiet for a moment, waiting to see if Atobe continued. When there was nothing else, he let out a long breath. “Explain.”

“What’s there to explain?” Atobe sounded almost exasperated, which, really. He was the only one not making sense here. “When I was born, I was assumed to be a girl, because from a purely physical standpoint, I was one. It wasn’t until I was old enough to tell them otherwise that anyone knew that wasn’t the case.”

“You are a girl.” Atobe made a distressed sort of noise, and Sanada corrected himself before Atobe could speak up. “No, you were a girl. People thought you were one, anyway.”

“Right.” Atobe sighed. “I’m — I’m transgender.”

Well. That at least was a word he had heard before, for all that he didn’t exactly know a lot about the topic. “You look like a man to me.” He was pretty sure he would have noticed if Atobe had breasts, at least.

“Yes, well, after their initial shock, my parents have always been quite accommodating. Thanks to their support, I’ve had treatment since before my puberty started. As such, there are some things I’m fortunate enough not to have to deal with.”

“I see.” Of course Atobe would only have the best of anything. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Well, there is a lot I could say, but I’m not sure what you want to know.”

“Who else knows?” That seemed pertinent enough. Atobe had made it clear this wasn’t something he wanted to spread around, so Sanada needed to know if there were people he might have to keep an eye on. He wasn’t about to let anyone else betray Atobe’s trust.

“My parents. Kabaji. Coach Sakaki. Hyoutei regulars are aware on some level, at least. Nobody else to my knowledge that you’d be likely to run into.” Atobe’s voice still sounded somewhat shaky, but at least he wasn’t crying.

“Very well.” Sanada would have nodded, except he was lying down and Atobe wasn’t going to see it either way. “Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Is that really all you have to ask?” And really, why would Atobe sound so surprised? “There’s nothing else you’re unclear on?”

“Knowing you, now that you’ve told me the basics, I will hear all the details sooner or later.” Atobe certainly never had any trouble talking about himself. “Now I know the truth. Unless there is something you need me to do, I think we both should get some sleep.”

“I can’t believe that would be all you’re thinking about.” Atobe huffed. As though he was the one to have any reason to be frustrated, here. “Have you been listening to anything I said?”

“Sure. You were born physically female. You disagree with that assessment, so you’re working on fixing that. I’m not going to tell anyone. Was there anything else?” He really didn’t understand why Atobe was making this so difficult at this hour of the night.

“That’s it? You’re just going to accept it like that?”

“Was I not supposed to?” Sanada paused, remembering Atobe’s whisper from earlier. About Sanada hating him. “…You thought I would not accept it.”

“It’s not an unreasonable assumption.” Okay, that was a sob again. Sanada had no idea what he was doing wrong. He rather wished Atobe would tell him. “Most people aren’t just going to shrug when they find out their boyfriend has a vagina.” Sanada heard another shaky breath. “Why do you think I decided to tell you over the phone?”

Sanada was about to say something snappy about Atobe probably wanting to annoy him, but then paused. “Atobe. Did you really think I might hurt you?”

“It… wouldn’t be unheard of.” Atobe sighed. “I would like to think you wouldn’t stoop so low, but this is not something I am willing to take risks with.”

“…I can’t blame you for that.” Sanada wasn’t good at this sort of thing, had never been. He had to say something, though, had to make sure Atobe would never think something so ridiculous again. Not as long as Sanada drew breath. “Atobe Keigo. I will not promise never to cause you harm, because we both know accidents happen in tennis. However.” He paused, trying to think of the best way to word this. “I swear on my honor, and on my family’s honor, that I will never intentionally cause you harm. I will also not allow you to be harmed by anyone else, not as long as I can do something about it.”

“How can you say that?” Atobe’s voice was barely even audible. “This isn’t just some unimportant detail. This is about who I am.”

“I fell in love with your tennis first.” Which was probably more of a confession than he had meant to make, but it was true enough anyway. “Nothing you have said tonight has changed that. If anything else comes up, we can talk that through at a more reasonable hour. Not like you have ever needed an excuse to talk.”

Sanada fully expected an indignant reply that would only serve to prove exactly how much Atobe was in love with the sound of his own voice. What he got instead was most definitely crying.

“Atobe?” What was the matter now? Sanada had done his best to ease any worries Atobe might have had, yet now he was actually crying instead of just the occasional sob? “Did I say something wrong?”

“I…” Well, at least Atobe sounded like he was trying to gather himself, for all that it wasn’t really making much of a difference. “I was so worried…”

Sanada sighed. Clearly there was more going on here, still, but it wasn’t something he could address right now. “Get some sleep, Atobe. Clearly you need it. You can call me again tomorrow when you’re feeling more like yourself. I can guarantee I still won’t hate you then.”

“Right. I… I’ll do that.” Atobe sniffled, and damn, that was a sound Sanada would have been quite happy never to hear again. It was so unlike Atobe, so against everything he knew about the man, and here he was helpless with no way to fix things. “…Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I don’t think my heart can take it.” Sanada couldn’t help but smirk a little. “The only thing you need to be sorry for is waking me up at this hour, and you can make up for that with a tennis match.”

“That’s your answer to everything.” That at least drew a chuckle from Atobe. A teary chuckle, maybe, but a chuckle. “It’s not a bad answer, though.”

“Indeed not.” On that, at least, they were in agreement. “Now, sleep.”

“I will. …Good night.”

“Hn.” He was tempted to leave it there, but then gave in and added, “Good night, Keigo.”

Sanada wasn’t terribly surprised when Atobe showed up unannounced the next day, looking as smug and self-satisfied as ever. Still, Sanada thought he could see a flash of vulnerability in Atobe’s eyes, only for a moment, before that too was hidden behind a smirk and a snarky comment about how old men such as Sanada clearly needed their sleep.

Sanada got his match, though, and after the match Atobe sat close enough to lean his head on Sanada’s shoulder, so clearly everything was going to be all right in the end.


End file.
